Restrictions on Access

Special restrictions apply: Please note that some of the items in this collection are copies of materials held in other archival repositories. The Library will not provide researchers with copies of those items. Researchers wishing to obtain copies of these materials should contact the repository that owns the originals.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on
reproduction.

Related Materials in This Repository

Camille Billops and James V. Hatch Archives at Emory University and Owen Dodson papers

Source

Gift from Camille Billops and James V. Hatch, 2012 with an additional gift from David Hall, 2017.

Processing

Biographical Note

James V. Hatch (1928- ), theatre historian, has held numerous academic positions, most notably as Professor of English and Theatre, City College and University of New York (1965-1993), and as Fulbright Lecturer, Cinema Institute, Cairo, Egypt (1962-1965). Hatch has published widely on the subject of African American theatre.

Camille Billops (1933- ) filmmaker and artist, has had an extensive exhibition, teaching, and academic career. She has been a faculty member at Rutgers University, City University of New York, and for the United States Information Service in India. Since 1968, Billops has been the art editor of Indiana State University's Black American Literature Forum.

James Hatch and Camille Billops created the Hatch-Billops Collection in New York in 1968 while Billops and Hatch were teaching art and literature at the City College of New York. With the rise of the civil rights movement and a concomitant increase in racial consciousness, a demand rose for courses in black American art, drama and literature. Billops and Hatch found that very little had been published on the history of the African American cultural arts, and much that had been published was out of print. They began collecting primary materials for their students. Artists and writers also began to send material to them for safekeeping. With a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Billops and Hatch conducted oral histories with black artists in all disciplines. Billops began to photograph the works of black artists in exhibitions and private collections. Hatch began to collect published and unpublished plays, set designs, theater programs, and historical and biographical works. They also assembled a library of books, periodicals and clippings related to black cultural arts. Since 1981 Billops and Hatch have published Artist and Influence: The Journal of Black American Cultural History that features transcripts of interviews they regularly conduct in New York, as well as panel discussions and forums with minority artists.

James V. Hatch (1928- ), theatre historian, has held numerous academic positions, most notably as Professor of English and Theatre, City College and University of New York (1965-1993), and as Fulbright Lecturer, Cinema Institute, Cairo, Egypt (1962-1965). Hatch has published widely on the subject of African American theatre.

Camille Billops (1933- ) filmmaker and artist, has had an extensive exhibition, teaching, and academic career. She has been a faculty member at Rutgers University, City University of New York, and for the United States Information Service in India. Since 1968, Billops has been the art editor of Indiana State University's Black American Literature Forum.

James Hatch and Camille Billops created the Hatch-Billops Collection in New York in 1968 while Billops and Hatch were teaching art and literature at the City College of New York. With the rise of the civil rights movement and a concomitant increase in racial consciousness, a demand rose for courses in black American art, drama and literature. Billops and Hatch found that very little had been published on the history of the African American cultural arts, and much that had been published was out of print. They began collecting primary materials for their students. Artists and writers also began to send material to them for safekeeping. With a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Billops and Hatch conducted oral histories with black artists in all disciplines. Billops began to photograph the works of black artists in exhibitions and private collections. Hatch began to collect published and unpublished plays, set designs, theater programs, and historical and biographical works. They also assembled a library of books, periodicals and clippings related to black cultural arts. Since 1981 Billops and Hatch have published Artist and Influence: The Journal of Black American Cultural History that features transcripts of interviews they regularly conduct in New York, as well as panel discussions and forums with minority artists.

Scope and Content Note

This collection contains the personal papers of James V. Hatch and Camille Billops and records of their work relating to the curation of the Hatch-Billops collection and the publication of Artist and Influence. Personal papers of James V. Hatch include writings and associated research files, correspondence, teaching files, and subject files. Of particular interest are the research files collected by Hatch while writing his biography of Owen Dodson, which include a number of audio interviews with Dodson and others. Personal papers of Camille Billops include correspondence with artists, art historians, and curators, art prints by her, and other personal material.

Administrative files contain correspondence, financial records, and other administrative material related to the administration of the Hatch-Billops Collection and the publication of Artist and Influence. Printed material includes posters by or about Camille Billops, James Hatch, and the Hatch-Billops Collection. Many of the posters are signed and include artwork by Camille Billops. The audiovisual series contains films produced by Camille Billops and Jim Hatch and their film company, Mom and Pop Productions.